the "why" in the road

Jesus said to his disciples:

"I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.

But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,

he will guide you to all truth.

He will not speak on his own,

but he will speak what he hears,

and will declare to you the things that are coming.

He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.

Everything that the Father has is mine;

for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine

and declare it to you."

John 16:12-15

Jesus said to his disciples: "I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now."

We've all been through rough situations - times when it was difficult, or perhaps impossible - for us to see the hand of God working in our lives. In this part of St. John's Gospel, the disciples were certainly at the beginning of a rough time, as our Lord was soon to undergo his passion and death. Indeed, Jesus knew well that his disciples couldn't handle complete revelation just yet - they wouldn't have understood it, and would probably have been completely grief-stricken or terrified if he had told them everything that was coming. 

So it is with us, right? How often do we go through a challenging or dark time in our lives, not understanding why, or seeing its purpose - and then when we come out of it, God shows us, and helps us understand the reason(s) we had to go through that darkness or that challenge. What would we have done if he had shown us those reasons while we were in the situation? Probably the same thing the disciples would've done had Jesus told them everything else he had to say - we would've freaked out, broken down, or just not wanted to believe it. Sometimes, we're not ready for the "why." So... he lets us experience the trial, and shows us "why" afterward, through the Holy Spirit.